Railway draft appliance



Patented Feb. `l5, 19.27.

- UNITED l STATES PATENTEoF 1,611,404 1 FICE.

MCCONWAY n-'ronLnY COMPANY,v or TIoN or PENNSYLVANIA. y

PITTSBURGH. PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA- RAILWAY DRAFT nrirLIA'ivon.A

Application filed June 1,

This invention relates to draft appliances for railway cars, and hasfor its object to provide a construction in which a car coupler may be pivotally connected to a draft yoke 5 or its equivalent in such manner that the car can be hauled to its' destination in case the connect-ing pivots or yoke is broken while in service. Y l

The principal feature of the invention re'- sides in associating a car coupler with means pivotally connected thereto for transmitting draft and bufling forces to 'a cushioning unit, the said means involving a. block provided with sockets for receiving trunnions which are integrally united to 'the coupler and cast in place in said sockets, and the said coupler and block being formed with alined key slots for receiving a draft key` the slot in the coupler being closed at its rear 20 end and elongated toA afford clearance between the coupler and the key permitting the e former to pivot with respect to the block.

Other4 features of the invention relating to advantageous combinations of parts and details of construction will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention,-

'Figurel is a view, partly in plan .and

I partlyin'horizontal section, of a draft appliance embodying the invention, the rear end of the yoke device beingomitted.

Figure 2 is a detail view, partly in ele-' vation and partly in vertical' section, of the structure shown in Fig. 1. l VFigure 3 is a view, partlyin' plan and partlyin horizontal section, of a modified form of the invent-ion.

Figure 4 is a detail view; partly in eleva-A 40 tion and'partly in vertical section, of the construction shown in Fig. 3. l Figure 5 is a view corresponding to Fig, 3 butl illustrating another modified forml of the invention. y :f

Figure 6 is aside elevational .view of the `construction shown in Fig. 5.

AIn the drawings, 1 is'the head and 2 the shank of' a car coupler';` Adjacent its rear end the shank of the 'coupler is:integrallyI provided with4 vertically extending cylindrical trunnions 3j, the rear end or bearing face 4 of the shank bengcurved concentric therewith. l

' Associated. withy the coupler. is a tr-unsv 192e. Seriali No. 112,975..

nion block 5 having a curvedbearing sur- .face' 6 for cooperating with the ycylindrically curved rearend of the coupler shank. This block is' an integral member provided with ahned cylindrical sockets 7 for receiving thecorresponding trunnions or pivot v'members t Midway between the sockets itfis fashioned with a horizontally extending slot 8 for receiving a 'draft key' 9, the'said slot being in horizontal alinement with a key receiving slot 10 extending through the coupler shank 1. This last mentioned slot is closed at its'rear end -and is elongated so that its dimension-,lengthwise ofthe coupler is greater than that of the key. The trunnionblock 5 is preferably first fashioned and the coupler thereafter castin` place inl connected relation therewith. l

As shown in Figs. lsand 2, the trunnion block 5 may be formed as an integral part of a draft yoke having the usual arms 11 for receiving any desired form of followers an'd cushioning unit (not shown), the forward follower being adapted to cooperate with the fiat rear face 12 ofthe trunnion block 5. Instead of forming-the arms of the yoke device integral with the'block 5 as heretofore described, they may be separable therefrom, as indicated at 13 in the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the arms or. draft bars 13' shown being such as are empiol ed in the well known Farlow draft attachments.

The trunnion block 14 preferably employed in this construction is provided -with a', forwardly `opening key receiving lslot 115 instead of a closed one. Other features of this form of the invention being identical withl vthose heretofore described are indicated by corresponding reference numerals.

The construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 employs a trunnion block 16 cast integral with arms' 17' ofthe yoke device,4the construction being in this respectsubstantially the same lasl that of Figs. 1 and2,l As in the case of the modified' form 4ofthe .invention just described, the key receiving slot 15 ofA ,theblock 16 -is o'pen at its forward end. The

remainingdetails of construction are dentical with those already described and have' accordingly been identified by corresponding reference'numerals.

The key 9 for-'use with all forms o the invention is preferably the standard rm commonly employedwith railway draft \at tachments. It extends through the slots in the coupler and trunnion block and through the usual slots therefor in the draft sills of the car. Because of the elongation of the key slot 10 in the coupler shank the key may extend therethrough and through the slots of the yoke device and car sills without interfering with the free pivotal movement of the coupler with respect to the yoke. Should the trunnions become broken the car can be hauled to its destination without da'ngerof derailment as thefelongation of the slot l() in the coupler shank enables the coupler to adjust its angular position whenthe car is passing around curves. In the form of the devicesliown in Figs. l and 2 wherein the key receiving slot of the yoke device is closed at vits forward end, the key 9 serves to con- .neet the coupler tothe yoke in' the event.

the trunnions 3 are broken. Similarly, in

-the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the

key 9 serves to connect the coupler to the Farlow draft links 13 if the trunnions 3 are broken in service. The form of construction illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 is advantageou in that. should the yoke straps 17 become broken they can be cut off flush with the rear face of the trunnion block 16', and the latter, together with the coupler 9.,.may be madeuse of in the manner illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, considerable loss of material thereby being avoided. The construction is such that the key 9 may be initially associated with the remaining parts of the mechanism.

1. A railway dlraft appliance comprising a car coupler, and means pivotally assoi ciated therewith for actuating a cushioning unit, said coupler and means having trun-4 nion and socket engagement formed by a 'the coupler and block being slotted to rebeing closed at its rear end.

3. A railway draft appliance comprising a car coupler, and means for transmitting` draft forces therefrom to a cushioning unit, said means involving a yoke device, a block pivotallj),T connected to said coupler, and a key operatively connecting said block and yoke device, said block being provided with trunnion sockets, the coupler .being inte- ,grally formed with trunnions,' extending into the sockets and the coupler being slotted to' receive the key, the 'said slotin the coupler being elongated to afford clearance for the key permitting the coupler to pivot with respect to the block. l 4. A railway draft appliance involving a car coupler provided at its rear end with a key slot and having a plurality of integrally united trunnions, and a block provided with sockets for receiving said trunnions, the block being formed with a forwardly opening slot, and saidA slots in the coupler and block being in horizontal alinement and adapted toreceive a'draft key.

ceive a draft key, the slot. in said coupler In testimony whereof I-aixv my signature.

VILLIAM MCCONWAY, JR. 

